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Tumour necrosis factor alpha is elevated in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis and inflammatory neuropathies

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Abstract

Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is a peptide that is derived from T lymphocytes and macrophages and is used as a marker of activated cellular immune responses. TNFα was measured in paired sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 30 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with worsening disability, 54 patients with other neurological diseases, and 20 normal subjects. A sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the TNFα levels. We found significantly elevated serum and CSF levels in 12 (40%) and 6 (20%) MS patients, respectively, compared with healthy controls (P<0.007 andP<0.05). Among the 18 patients with neuropathy, we also found high serum and CSF TNFα values in 3 (17%) and 5 (28%) patients, respectively (P<0.04 andP<0.002). Our study shows that TNFα is probably involved in the pathogenetic mechanisms of MS and other inflammatory neurological diseases.

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  1. Department of Neurology, Athens University Medical School, 74 Vas. Sofias Av, 11528, Athens, Greece

    M. Rentzos, C. Nikolaou, A. Rombos, K. Voumvourakis, I. Segditsa & C. Papageorgiou

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  1. M. Rentzos
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  2. C. Nikolaou
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Rentzos, M., Nikolaou, C., Rombos, A. et al. Tumour necrosis factor alpha is elevated in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis and inflammatory neuropathies. J Neurol 243, 165–170 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02444010

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